One
by VampqueenJay
Summary: Sakura is a girl with secrets. She moves to a new town and meets Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata. Sasuke befriends her with ease. Hinata is skeptic about who she is. And Naruto, well he just wants to get rid of her. They go on an adventure to atone for Sasuke's sins, but a more dangerous secret threatens them. This is an AU story. Read, review and enjoy.
1. Chapter 1 - The Meeting

_All characters belong to Kishimoto and his Naruto franchise, only the story is my idea. Read and review. Thank you_

Grunts could be heard for miles in the forest. Two boys were fighting it out as usual. They were training all out. Hit after hit caused bruises and split lips or a bleeding eyebrow. They refuse to use weapons as doing so will result in someone's death.

Lying exhausted on the ground the one laughed and the other scowled, it ended in a draw again.

"Ne Sasuke we are always ending in draws, maybe we need new opponents."

"Hn, maybe. I'm out Naruto maybe next time." the raven head boy stood up to leave only to be surprised by a high squeal.

"Oh my gosh, so if you're like done fighting him, walk with me to the town, I'm like lost." the pink haired abomination plopped her lollipop back into her mouth. Both boys were stunned at her sudden loud appearance, they haven't seen her before.

"Sure" Sasuke started to walk with a babbling girl next to him.

She was new to town, moved here two days ago and being in awe of the forest decided to go exploring. Somehow she went to too far and lost her way. She thanked Sasuke when they arrived at town and went her own way. Sasuke was slightly surprised that she didn't go all fan girl over him.

Sasuke and this girl, who he later learned was named Sakura became friends, he enjoyed her weird way of telling a story. He introduced her to his group of friends. Naruto was annoyed by her superficial attitude, Hinata didn't know how to deal with the girl and the others just seemed to ignore her.

One afternoon after missions Hinata stumbled upon Sakura close the forest, the girl was staring at the sky and in her hands was a bouquet of flowers, white lilies, and a soft green rose that she did not recognize. There were tears running down her face. Hinata stayed a bit longer to look at her, with a swift motion that no one knew the girl had she ran into the forest, leaving Hinata to wonder who she truly is.

Sasuke had his suspicions about Sakura as well, he might not have voiced it like Hinata or Naruto. But he could tell she was acting most of the time. When they were walking alone once he heard her whisper that it was nice, after he inquired she smiled at him and without the preppy attitude she told him that she was glad to be able to have friends and she was starting to feel comfortable with them all. When they were alone she was soft spoken, serious and didn't pull the act with him, that was after he told her it was grating on his nerves, Sakura had started to invite him over for tea or coffee, and he had a rare opportunity to get to know her.

Naruto didn't like Sakura since they met, he had found it odd when she didn't make any sound when she found them the forest. And he absolutely didn't like her preppy attitude it was worse than Ino's and one of her was enough for the whole group. After telling everyone that maybe if they ignored her she'd go away, he was disappointed when Sasuke stood up for her, and Hinata was a bit uncertain about the decision.

A few months after their meeting, the four of them went on an adventure. Naruto claimed its so that Sasuke can atone for all his wrong doing. Sakura snickered in the background, she was glad to be on the move again. Hinata looked the at the pink head in disgust, how was a civilian going to assist them in this mission. She was a bit apprehensive when it came to Sakura, Hinata got the feeling that this girl was hiding something, she had seen past her simple act, and to Hinata Sakura's green eyes held a lot of secrets.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Boat Trip

Sakura was euphoric when she heard that they were going to be travel by boat. She'd had only been on one once before. Her excitement made the group feel happy too, it was infectious. Hinata saw the bright smile the girl's face held, it was different from the usual ones she gave, and to her it meant that someday some on will break through her shell. Hinata looked towards Naruto who was scowling, it was like he was a completely different person when she was around and this had Hinata dismayed.

When they had boarded and had their apartments sorted they met for a late lunch in the cafeteria. Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke were there already. Sasuke looked like he was about to kill Naruto and Hinata was standing between them to prevent the fight that was bound to happen. When Sakura had entered, she instinctively knew that it was about her. She was about to leave when Hinata called her over, she seemed somewhat relieved that Sakura was there.

"Have you settled in nicely Hinata?" Sakura asked sitting  
"Yes, thank you. The room's lovely as well. How about you?"  
"Oh it's wonderful, much bigger than what I expected." Sakura smiled at her. "Has the boys settled yet?"  
"I think so, they were arguing when I got here though. At least they are quite now." Hinata sighed.

Sasuke was sitting opposite the girls observing them talking. Sakura has taken a liking to Hinata, and she was trying to reach out to Naruto too, but he preferred that the girl just disappeared. Sasuke had noticed that Hinata was becoming frustrated with this attitude as well, she still hasn't taken the blame away from Sakura though, but he supposed Hinata had to choose her man's side first. Sasuke scowled, Sakura was trying but no one wanted to accept her, and it was Naruto's fault.

The weather was getting more colder as they were nearing the Arctic. They had decided to stay indoors most of the time, this had limited the training they could do. When they do decide to go outside they dressed themselves in big puffy jackets and warm fur lined boots. One afternoon Sakura and Sasuke were standing on the deck, they were talking about random things while playing with the snow. The crew had pointed to a group of penguins not to far off from the ship, and in her excitement, Sakura leaned too far off the railing and slipped, falling into the icy water, the warm clothes dragged her down as she tried to swim. Sasuke wore a shocked expression when he saw her fall, he had nearly dived in after her but a firm hand on his shoulder had stopped him.

"This is good, if she can't look after herself, how will she help us?" Naruto looked at him.  
Sasuke only snarled as a response. He broke free and felt the boat stop, jumped in and went to her aid.  
Naruto stared at Hinata, she was looking at him disapprovingly.  
Hinata has never felt so disappointed by Naruto before. He was their Villages' hero. She had shook her head and turned to walk towards where the two would have been helped up by the crew. Sakura was shivering but laughed, she thanked Sasuke and Hinata. After getting dressed with dry cloths again they went to get something warm to drink.

Naruto had seemed to be warming up to Sakura after the incident. Sasuke had seemed suspicious about it but said nothing whatever his friend was planning was his own problem.

A week had passed and the weather was starting to warm again. Sakura was standing alone on the deck one evening, leaning on the railing staring at the starry sky. Naruto who had seen her decided to stand next to her, he saw her eyes shift to him and smiled. She had indeed trusted him. She always heard the good stories about his deeds. Naruto's mind was torturing him on his behavior, Kurama had also talked to the boy.

"You have done a lot of good things for the people you love Naruto." She had given him one of her rare smiles.  
He looked at her and gulped.  
"I'm doing this for your own good, you need to toughen up if you're going to stay with us." He had picked her up with ease and thrown her overboard.  
Sakura was suddenly in the air falling into the water, she screamed as panic over took her senses. She didn't know how long she'd been in the water before a hand pulled her out of the depths.  
Sasuke had been shivering from the cold but his eyes were scanning Sakura, she was barely moving, it seemed like she was in a state shock. Hinata had rushed over to them with warm blankets and ushered them inside, Sasuke carrying the unresponsive girl.  
Sasuke had gone to take a warm shower to relieve him of the chill in his bones, he had to get dressed in warmer cloths again.  
Hinata was at the medic wing where they were keeping Sakura making sure the girl was OK.

Sasuke was about to walk past Naruto on his way to the medic wing when Naruto had stopped him.  
"I'm sorry, I thought that if she was gone we'd all be a great group again, we won't be fighting as much as well." Naruto had the guts to look ashamed "Sasuke since she came to us you haven't been yourself, you are neglecting me and our friends."  
"You are an idiot. When did I stop hanging out with everyone? When did I tell you to stop being my friend, Hn Naruto, when have I, who took years to realize who my true friends were by the way, stopped caring? You oh great hero, just tried to murder a girl, who if you would stop being a jealous prick, would've noticed that she was trying to be nice to you."  
Naruto stared at him, was he really that bad?

"Sasuke I didn't..."  
"Don't bother, you know what she told me a few months back. It was barely a whisper but, she told me that it felt nice to have friends. You of all people should be familiar with that feeling, and you went and almost cost her, her life. I would look in a mirror before accusing someone of changing. Naruto you are one of my best friends but if you carry on like this I'm afraid that you'll end up with a lot less than what you expect. Please excuse me, I need to go check on Sakura."  
"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I really didn't know."  
"I'm not the one who needs the apology." with that Sasuke had walked away.

Hinata had been sitting with her arms around a crying pinkette. She didn't know what happened but she felt like comforting her. Sakura had been mumbling many things ranging from the question why to her parents and back again. Once she had calmed down Sakura looked at Hinata and thanked her throwing her arms around the other girl.  
"I'm so sorry Sakura."  
"It's not your fault"  
"In a way it is. I have misjudged you and I have treated you unfairly. Sakura only Sasuke was a true friend to you, and I was looking at you not realizing what you were going through. I was so stupid for not trusting my own heart." Hinata had looked down towards her hands.  
"Hinata don't be so harsh on yourself. You've saved my life at least once. Besides I'm not all that revealing to anyone so I expected that much from people. Thank you for being there for me Hinata, even though you don't realize it yourself." Sakura had smiled at her and Hinata had smiled back at her.  
"You know one day I'll tell you about my past. I know you've been wondering for a while."  
"There's no rush" Hinata had allowed a small smile to grace her face.  
The doors had opened and Sasuke stepped in. He was relieved to see her smiling and talking to Hinata.  
He had taken a seat next to them and had joined the conversation. It had gotten late and the two of them stood to leave.  
"Hinata, don't be mad at Naruto please. He isn't sure how to handle this, and it was my fault."  
The two stood frozen.  
"He deserves some anger Sakura, he tried..."  
"No Sasuke he did what he thought was right. He's afraid of me, and I know that it was the only thing he could've thought to do at that moment. So please don't be angry towards him."

Sakura was kept in the medic ward for two days, they were a few days away from docking at their next destination.


	3. Chapter 3 - The girl

Once they docked they all went for a stroll. Sakura was still uneasy with Naruto around. She was glad that she was back on land again, months at sea was starting to wear thin on her nerves.

Their mission was to gather intelligence and to help out the local town as there had been some reports of women and girls going missing. The group had travelled a bit on the island exploring their surroundings and making sure that the area was safe.

Sakura smiled a lot but tried to hide it along with the unease she was feeling. Hinata had grown closer to her and noticed that whenever they would leave the hotel they were staying at that she would always wear a cloak covering herself, as if she was afraid of something or someone spotting her.

One evening after dinner the girls retired to their room and Hinata was burning with questions.

"Sakura, why do you cloak yourself when we go out?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably and gave a sly smile.

"Well Lorilia isn't all that safe for me, and I'd rather not be seen by anyone to be honest."

Hinata was growing more hungry for answers.

"Why wouldn't it be safe for you?"

"Hinata, you know this involves my past and I'm not really comfortable talking about it. But I haven't been here in four years, and" she sighed "welcome to my home land"

Hinata sat frozen for a little while. So this is where her friend came from.

"But the people are so friendly, I'm sure someone would be very glad to see you."

Sakura's face fell and she grimaced.

"Believe me when I say no one would be happy to see me."

Sakura climbed into bed and turned to face the wall.

 **One morning Sakura woke up before the others and left a note saying that she will be back, she just needs some time alone.**

Intrigue had bugged Hinata all night she needed to know more, but she couldn't ask Sasuke or Naruto as she's pretty sure that neither of them even know this of their friend. And Sakura was unwilling to bring up the subject again, she was also nowhere to be found.

Sakura had left with a few items in her bag to eat and two bottles of water. She needed some exercise. Once out of the town she went towards the forest. She knew this place well, this was the forest she grew up with, the one she knows. She was walking on the small trail towards her parents grave. Once she got there she bend down onto the ground and tended to the small bush of Green ice roses. She hummed while clearing the debris from it. This was the only place she felt safe. As a rule in the kingdom no one shall be harmed when they are at a grave. It is to prevent any ill luck on the assailant, but it protects the victim as well.

She had Spoken to them as if they were there. She missed them dearly.

"I've made some friends, ok maybe one of them isn't in the friend group yet, but I don't really blame him. And they are very wonderful people, like a little group of misfits that just found each other. Sasuke has been very nice to me since I left here, and Hinata was trying so hard to be a little mean it was quite funny, she's a very good person though and Naruto, well he did try to kill me, but he's lucky he has such a strong woman who is there for them." Silence fell for a while.

"I've been having a feeling of being watched since I got back, and I am scared, I am so so scared. Please watch over me."

Sakura stood up and dusted herself off, she pulled her cloak tight against her again and moved back down the trail.

Half way back Sakura was startled by a rustle in the trees. A young girl came out, she had scratches all over her from running in the forest, her eyes were rimmed red and she had a panicked look on her face. She stopped in front of Sakura.

"Please help me. They have... they have my friends." She started to cry.

Sakura looked at the girl and took her by the shoulders.

"Who and where? And please don't follow me, I'll bring them to you."

The girl sniffed "by the Waterfall, there's a cave. They are in there. Thank you."

Sakura ran through forest towards the cave. It was notorious for slave trade and other illegal activities. She knew that if she did not reach them in time they will be sold.

Getting into the cave was fairly easy, it wasn't guarded and it was quite. Her senses were heightened and she focused on finding the girls.

Sasuke was out on the beach pacing, Hinata stood close by and watched him. Naruto bit his lip, he was afraid that she might have left them for good. After his stint he felt overwhelmingly guilty and has since apologised a thousand times.

"She's been gone for too long. We should go look for her." Sasuke spoke looking towards them.

"We don't know where to start..." Hinata frowned.

"We could split up, each of us starts in a different area. I'll go left, Hinata take the middle and Sasuke you take the right. We'd be able to track her faster and whoever finds her has to send out a signal, a light might be too difficult to see." Naruto rummaged around a bag "Found them, we can use these communicators." He smiled them.

Sasuke and Hinata nodded at him.

"Be careful." Hinata kissed Naruto on the cheek. "and thank you."

Each one walked off into a different direction.

Sakura was standing near the cages now, her eyes scanning for any movement, it dawned on her that maybe she should have let the others know about this first. The girls were in there, they were huddled in a group. Sakura moved closer to them, stopping in front of the gate. The girls looked scared and one was about to scream when Sakura place a finger on her lips to indicate that they need to stay quiet. She unlocked the door and motioned for them to follow her. Getting out was tricky without the light but she had found a rope and made them hold onto it as to not get lost.

The cave was too quiet for her liking, something didn't feel right.


End file.
